Candidates question global warming

Friday

Nov 13, 2009 at 12:01 AMNov 13, 2009 at 12:04 PM

Most of the Republican candidates for Illinois governor flatly reject the idea that human activity contributes to global warming, a position that contradicts the overwhelming consensus among climate scientists.

Five of the seven Republican candidates claim rising temperatures have nothing to do with pollution from cars, factories or power plants.

CHRIS WILLS

Most of the Republican candidates for Illinois governor flatly reject the idea that human activity contributes to global warming, a position that contradicts the overwhelming consensus among climate scientists.

Five of the seven Republican candidates claim rising temperatures have nothing to do with pollution from cars, factories or power plants.

"I don't accept the premise that man is the cause of global warming, if global warming even exists," Kirk Dillard, a state senator from Hinsdale, said at a candidate forum last week.

The candidates sharply criticized "cap-and-trade" legislation, which would cap pollution, then allow companies to buy and sell permission to exceed those caps. They argued that cap and trade would be a job-killing tax.

"We have great opportunities in this state, and anyone who voted for cap and trade voted to penalize Illinois families and workers and should apologize for it," said state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington.

Jim Ryan didn't attend the forum, sponsored by Will County supporters of the tea party movement, but said Wednesday he accepts that humans contribute to global warming, although how much "is a matter of spirited debate."

The seventh GOP candidate, Andy McKenna, also missed the forum and did not respond to repeated requests for his views.

The major Democratic candidates, Dan Hynes and Pat Quinn, agree there is a link between people and climate change. Hynes said the conclusion was "irrefutable."

Global warming has become a major issue for some Illinois Republicans who do not trust the scientists and activists warning about the environmental impact. The issue took on a higher profile after Mark Kirk, a leading GOP Senate candidate, angered many conservatives by voting for cap and trade in the U.S. House.

The Illinois governor has relatively little to do with global warming, but the issue could influence Illinois policy, for instance in the regulation of coal-burning power plants or possible introduction of tax incentives to businesses that cut pollution.

The consensus among climate scientists is that global warming is real, man-made and a worsening problem.

Last month, 18 scientific societies in the United States sent Congress a letter saying human activities are the "primary driver" behind global warming. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a group of hundreds of scientists and representatives of 113 governments - concluded global warming is an "unequivocal" threat and that most of the temperature increase is very likely because of greenhouse gases produced by people.

"We can and we do argue about details of what that means, but at the global scale I don't think there is much question about it," said Gabriel Vecchi, a climate researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "I think the science is clear."

Wrong, say most of the Republican candidates.

"Global warming is not created by man, and anybody who says that, it's just bad science. It's not true," said Bob Schillerstrom, chairman of the DuPage County Board.

Dan Proft, a Chicago-area public relations consultant, said Al Gore and other global warming activists are "kind of enviro-terrorists."

A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that only 36 percent of respondents feel that human activities are behind a temperature increase. That's down from 47 percent in April 2008.

Fifty-seven percent of Republicans say there is no solid evidence of global warming, up from 31 percent in early 2007. People in the Midwest and mountainous areas of the West are far less likely to view global warming as a serious problem.

Both Quinn and Hynes maintain that reducing pollution can be done in ways that create new technologies and new jobs in Illinois.

"That's what the green economy is all about - good jobs that don't get exported to foreign countries," Quinn said Wednesday. "They'll be right here in our own state of Illinois in our backyard if we do it right."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.